Research

Research interest

Because of their enormous diversity, orchids are attractive subjects to study the evolutionary basis of flower shape. For this it is necessary to understand which genes are involved in establishing orchid floral morphology and symmetry. As study organism Erycina pusilla was chosen because of its small, relatively simple and fully sequenced genome, its short generation time and the availability of tissue culture stocks providing flowering plants throughout the year. Expression of genes involved in orchid floral developmental changes are being investigated using various techniques.

Publications

August 1987 till March 1990 employed as research technician at the Laboratory for Cytochemistry and Cytometry, Leiden University (Prof. Dr. M. vd Ploeg). Co-author of 3 scientific publications.

March 1990 till august 1994 employed as research technician at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Free University Amsterdam (Prof. Dr. H.A. Raué). Co-author of 6 scientific publications.

August 1994 till August 2000 employed as research technician at the Netherlands Cancer Institute at the Division Molecular Biology (Prof. Dr. P. Borst). Co-author of 9 scientific publications.